Computex: ASRock debuts Z87 motherboard with 22 SATA-ports

By Marc MouthaanWednesday June 5, 2013 04:21 AM

ASRock is also attending Computex and has shown three interesting motherboards. We'll start you off with the Z87 Extreme11/ac. This E-ATX motherboard is the manufacturer's most complete and high-end creation to date. It features no less than 22 SATA-ports. Six SATA 6 Gb/s connectors come from the Z87 chipset. The additional sixteen SAS/SATA ports are courtesy of an LSI SAS 3008 + SAS 3 x 24R controller. The board also features Thunderbolt, 802.11ac and dual Gigabit LAN.

Next there's the ASRock Extreme9/ac, literally the 'little brother' (ATX) of the aforementioned Extreme11/ac. This board also has a rich feature set and is quite similar to the E-ATX model. Thunderbolt and 802.11ac are present on this creation as well. The Extreme9/ac also has dual Gigabit LAN functionality. What's missing is LSI's SAS-controller, resulting in significantly less SAS-connectors. Nevertheless, only few people will require more than the ten SATA 6 Gb/s connectors that can be found on the Extreme9/ac.

Lastly, ASRock has shown as Z87 motherboard specially designed for overclockers. The creation is called Z87 OC Formula/ac and is based on an E-ATX form factor. The components allow you to take your system to the absolute maximum. A 12-phase power design has been used for the processor. dual-stack MOSFETs and three different types of capacitors can be found throughout the board. The Z87 OC Formula/ac is also prepared for watercooling and comes with Gelid Solutions' GC-Extreme thermal paste, which should ensure performance even at temperatures well below zero degrees Celsius. The OC Formula board also offers 802.11ac WiFi functionality.